Armenian presidential candidate Raffi Hovhannisian has revealed that he is the descendant of Armenians who escaped the Genocide of 1915.

“My mother’s family comes from Garin, and my father’s family is from Harput,” Hovhannisian recently told the Hürriyet Daily News.

“My grandmother Khengeni was saved from the genocide by a Turkish family in Erzurum. My grandfather Kaspar was saved by a Kurdish family in Harput,” he said.

Speaking about relations with Turkey, Hovhannisian said ensuring that the 1915 mass killings of Armenians are recognized as “genocide” would be a must if he is elected.

“Turkey, based on its own needs and interests, should recognize the great genocide and national dispossession of the Armenian people, seek full redemption and effect restitution, restore Armenian cultural heritage, ensure a secure right of return,” he said.

Hovhannisian, meanwhile, said Turks who saved Armenians during the mass killings would be commemorated in Yerevan on the centenary of the event in 2015.

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